PIA Press Release2006/10/26

Maria RHU gets Sentrong Sigla Phase 2 certification

Larena (26 October) -- After being accredited and awarded Sentrong Sigla Phase I last August 2003, the local government and rural health unit of Maria made it again recently for another round of accreditation.

This year, the phase 2 accreditation team was composed of Dra. Cora-Lou Kintanar, OIC-LAHAD, Ms. Fe Quijano of the licensing department and Ms. Lourdes Maratas of CHD 7 – Cebu City

Information Officer of the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) Lady Esperanza Patay said the certification was a realization of the local government’s vision of gaining quality health services to all Mariajanons and the Siquijodnons as a whole.

She said the success of Maria Rural Health Unit was pooled efforts of then municipal mayor Encarnacion Sunogan (during phase I) and the present administration of Mayor Rebecca Padayhag.

Credit is also given to the Technical Assistance of CHD 7 in the person of Ms. Mila Tan, the LAMAR coordinators who likewise provided comprehensive technical assistance to the RHU personnel and Dra. Susan Jojie O. Villa, municipal Health Officer of Larena and a millionaire beneficiary of Sentrong Sigla, who was so generous enough to share her experience and documents in the process of certification.

The SS II certification was also made successful through the support of the community volunteer health workers who, in so many ways, assisted the RHU personnel in cleaning, arranging, beautifying and housekeeping in preparations for the evaluation and assessment, Ms. Patay said. “The clients/mothers in the community who were the beneficiaries of the delivered services also helped a lot by supporting the RHU personnel in the question-and-answer portion.”

The support of the local government to its rural health unit is a response to their task of providing health services as required under the Local Government Code of 1991. The RHU personnel, in return, took the challenge of providing quality health care services to their constituents, she said. (PIA) [top]